Java is both a popular programming language and runtime environment which allows Java programs to run unchanged on most hardware and software platforms.
70
votes
11answers
3k views
Float or int for currency?
In a simple business simulation game (built in Java + Slick2D), which is more suitable to store the player's current amount of money: a float or an int? Some information:
Most of the transactions ...
34
votes
10answers
13k views
Is Java viable for serious game development?
Ever since I was a little kid, my dream has been to develop games. Well, now that I am older, more mature, and have some programming experience, I would like to start. However, I would like to turn ...
30
votes
6answers
2k views
What is a good file format for saving game data?
I need to save some custom game data. Map, player, etc.
All of them will have "sub objects". For example, a map and map will have an "array" of tiles. ie, hierarchical data. Hopefully nothing ...
19
votes
4answers
736 views
How to implement a never-rebooting test world?
Am looking for ideas on how to do the following: I want to write a simple "world" in Java. One which I could start and then add new objects later at a later date to simulate/observe different ...
17
votes
6answers
5k views
How can I improve rendering speeds of a Voxel/Minecraft type game?
I'm writing my own clone of Minecraft (also written in Java). It works great right now. With a viewing distance of 40 meters I can easily hit 60 FPS on my MacBook Pro 8,1. (Intel i5 + Intel HD ...
16
votes
14answers
1k views
Advice for a first year CS major
I'm coming to the end of my first year of CS which has been primarily a Java based course. I'd like to get my feet wet with some game development but I'm not sure where to start.
Some people have ...
16
votes
5answers
2k views
Can I develop games for mobile platforms in C++?
I have a good grasp in C++ and C and have also experience developing AAA game using C++.
Now, I'm shamelessly thinking to dive into mobile game development either in iOS or Android. Unfortunately, I ...
15
votes
2answers
738 views
Graphics not being displayed on OUYA
I hope its not too early to be asking OUYA dev questions, but I just got my dev kit and I want to get my game running ASAP! I am using LibGDX as my framework for my game and launching the Android ...
14
votes
3answers
2k views
Polling vs event driven input
I'm developing a game using polling for the input method. However, now that I'm delving deeper into the game menus and other UI components, I'm finding that I'd probably like to have event driven ...
13
votes
9answers
7k views
C# (Mono)/Java 3D Game Engine recommendation [closed]
can you recommend a good C# game engine for cross platform (Win/Mac/Linux, I don't care about consoles) development?
I've got some experience with raw OpenGL and I played around with Java bindings ...
13
votes
4answers
1k views
How can I implement a global high score ladder?
Are there any existing frameworks I can build on? Should I build my own? How can I prevent fake scores from being posted to it?
13
votes
2answers
267 views
Territory patrol planning
I am developing a game/simulation where agents are fighting for land. I have the situation shown in the picture below:
These creatures are walking around and occupying pieces of land they step on ...
12
votes
6answers
1k views
Am I hurting myself by not knowing C++ for game design?
Right now, I feel I am strong in both Java a C#. (Not much of a leap from one to the other really).
While I don't expect a game designer/programmer is an attainable goal early on in my career, This ...
12
votes
2answers
1k views
Why is C/C++ preferred for game developers?
Some people say it offers more control to developers, but what is it precisely that can be controlled through C++ which can't be controlled using, for example, Java?
12
votes
2answers
656 views
How do you handle uneven tiles while rendering a tile map?
Here is what I want to do with my tile map that I am unsure of. As you can see the top walls are way larger then the bottom and side ones (this is also an issue with my corners which are odd shapes ...
12
votes
4answers
5k views
How to load 3D models into Java?
Using LWJGL what is the easiest way to load a 3D model to be drawn on screen?
I know LWJGL doesn't have built in loading support so I am looking for a small library that would help to load ...
12
votes
1answer
2k views
A* navigational mesh path finding
So I've been making this top down 2D java game in this framework called Greenfoot and I've been working on the AI for the guys you are gonna fight. I want them to be able to move around the world ...
12
votes
8answers
2k views
How do I create tileable solid noise for map generation?
Hey guys, I'm trying to figure out how to generate tileable fractals in code (for game maps, but that's irrelevant)
I've been trying to modify the Solid Noise plug-in shipped with GIMP (with my ...
11
votes
2answers
3k views
Am I allowed to make my Minecraft clone open source?
I'm developing in my spare time a game like Minecraft. In fact, it isn't "like Minecraft", because I'm trying to make it a close as possible copy of it (meant as exercise for myself at the age of 16 ...
11
votes
8answers
855 views
Converting a 2D curve into points for data storage
I’ve created an algorithm which converts any curve i.e. path into minimum number of points so that I can save it into a file or database.
The method is simple: it moves three points in equal steps ...
11
votes
2answers
1k views
What are different ways to define items in an RPG like game?
I am casually working on an RPG type game in java but I am having trouble figuring out how I can have items that can do many different things without creating a different class for every item.
As an ...
11
votes
2answers
5k views
How different is Java for JRE vs Java for Android?
I'm new to all this game developing, and I'm starting to learn java because I was told it was a great way to start. I want to later on create games for the android market, and want to get a good view ...
11
votes
5answers
898 views
Sprites as Actors
I'm not experienced in Game Development questions, but as a programmer. In the language Scala, you can have scalable multi-tasking with Actors, very stable, as I hear. You can even have hundreds of ...
10
votes
3answers
374 views
Having a list of rooms with theirs connection to each other, how do I find isolated room groups?
I'm trying to create a small roguelike and went as far as random generating rooms and corridors. Each room is an instanced object and contain an arraylist of the others rooms connected by a corridor.
...
10
votes
3answers
759 views
How do I efficiently code both the client and server at the same time?
I'm coding my game using a client-server model. When playing on singleplayer, the game starts a local server, and interacts with it just like a remote server (multiplayer). I have done this to avoid ...
10
votes
5answers
1k views
2D Game dev and Java. Other possibilities than OpenGL?
I recently startet to programm some basic OpenGL stuff in Java, but OpenGL and DirectX is to much to handle and to understand for me and i'm getting bored really fast.
Now i am wondering if there are ...
10
votes
2answers
3k views
how should i develop my android game efficiently?
I have attached a image of a flow chart that i made in paint.
The image shows how i want to develop my game. I want a game that runs great with smart coding that is easy to update and ad features ...
10
votes
3answers
5k views
How can I make OpenGL textures scale without becoming blurry?
I'm using OpenGL through LWJGL.
I have a 16x16 textured quad rendering at 16x16. When I change it's scale amount, the quad grows, then becomes blurrier as it gets larger.
How can I make it scale ...
10
votes
3answers
4k views
Is there an algorithm for a pool game?
I am looking for algorithm to calculate direction and speed of balls in a pool game. I am sure there has to be some type of open source code for this since pool games are some of the oldest computer ...
10
votes
3answers
296 views
Should scripts interact with an abstraction of the engine?
I'm using Java and Jython, and after some research I discovered giving scripts direct access to the engine interface could be a mistake, as it would tightly couple the two.
It looks like most ...
10
votes
1answer
1k views
Should I write my own physics engine, because of networking integration?
I'm currently developing a top down, realtime, zombie shooter. I'm coding this in Java, using JBox2D as my physics engine. I have been coding the networking this week, and am now up to the physics ...
9
votes
5answers
517 views
Increasing the probability for similar tiles to generate next to each other
I'm working on a tile map system, which insofar looks like this (green is grass, air is white, stone is grey, and blue is water):
It uses a simple random number generator so that there's a 45% ...
9
votes
3answers
560 views
Is there any relation between Game Theory and Game Development?
I'm a Java programmer interested to learn games on Java, recently I looked on a book on Operations Research written by Wayne L.Winston. There is a topic on Game Theory.
It's truly mathematical. I'm ...
9
votes
4answers
818 views
Is there a good reason I shouldn't use a java applet for a game?
I want to make a multiplayer browser-based game. The nice thing about using an applet is that I can make the client and the server in the same language (java/closure/scala/etc). I know there's html5 ...
9
votes
5answers
5k views
Is there an XNA-like library for Java?
I'm curious to know if there is an XNA-like library for Java; that is, a library that
Handles the game loop - i.e. you just implement an existing method, and it will get called every frame.
Handles ...
9
votes
3answers
5k views
Fitting Android game to different screen sizes
I am making an Android game that is only in portrait screen orientation. It works great when I run it on my phone, but when I run it on a tablet, even though the screen size is bigger, all of the ...
9
votes
2answers
774 views
Rendering characters, with cut off limbs (Blender models in Java/OpenGL)
What aspects should I take into consideration for creating character animation and rendering classes if I want to be able to have detachable limbs? I've developed a detailed body system that can have ...
9
votes
2answers
691 views
Android real time multiplayer over LAN [closed]
I've developed several games for the android platform and now planning to create my first multiplayer game. What I have in mind is basically just a 2-player game witch you can play with 2 phones over ...
8
votes
4answers
2k views
Java game in a day or two
We are three people who are going to make a simple game in Java as a school project (University, first year). The game has to be object oriented. We don't have much time, 10-20 hours tops. None of us ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
How to move an object along a circumference of another object?
I am so out of math that it hurts, but for some of you this should be a piece of cake.
I want to move an object around another along its ages or circumference on a simple circular path. At the moment ...
8
votes
3answers
7k views
Mods for Minecraft Server - how does it work?
Minecraft server comes as a single jar. How are mods developed? How do they interact with the original jar? What is there under the hood?
What technologies are involved there? I'm mostly a C++/Python ...
8
votes
5answers
978 views
What is Java missing that might make it difficult to develop fully-featured 2D games?
Without using any external libraries, does Java, including all officially supported APIs give you enough to develop fully-featured 2D games? The reason I ask is that I hear a lot of "bad-mouthing" ...
8
votes
6answers
2k views
Which server platform to choose
I'm going to write a server for an online multiplayer with these requirements:
Pretty simple turn based game (think a card game) that is played entirely on the server (security reasons)
Must be able ...
8
votes
2answers
448 views
What is the primary use of Vertex Buffer Objects?
From what I've read, it seems VBOs are purely for performance.
I'm working on a very rudimentary learning project in lwjgl and I'm just trying to figure out what more advanced features of the library ...
8
votes
3answers
4k views
Android differences (Dalvik+Java vs Old School C++)
Developing in Android is going to be different for me, having spent the last 10 years coding games in C++. What's the main differences / pitfalls / bottlenecks to developing for the Android? My big ...
8
votes
2answers
461 views
How can a desktop Java game be distributed without a Java runtime dependency?
Is it possible to turn a Java application into a standalone package that runs "out of the box"? The end user should not be required to install any Java JRE, nor should the installer contain a JRE and ...
8
votes
2answers
2k views
How do I tackle top down RPG movement?
I have a game that I am writing in Java. It is a top down RPG and I am trying to handle movement in the world. The world is largely procedural and I am having a difficult time tackling how to handle ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
PacMan character AI suggestions for optimal next direction
Firstly, this is AI for PacMan and not the ghosts.
I am writing an Android live wallpaper which plays PacMan around your icons. While it supports user suggestions via screen touches, the majority of ...
8
votes
2answers
436 views
Random Zelda-style map generation
Im trying to randomly generate a map of rooms connected by doors, and I've succeeded in generating one using this code:
public void generate(GameContainer gc) {
rooms = new ...
8
votes
2answers
284 views
How well do functional languages perform on Android?
This is a special case of this question that I feel is particularly pertinent.
I'm working on a game for Android, and I'm planning on using Scala with libgdx. I'm planning on making a performant ...
